A load of estrogen Mario here:

It's Grrl power at maximum overdrive. Biting-Edge can barely contain the female magic.

Yesterday I went to Terri Clark's signing for her debut novel, the young adult thriller, Sleepless. Big box store signings can be iffy but Terri had no problem sending books out the door in the hands of eager teenage readers.

For pics of the signing, click on over to Lynda Sandoval's Flicker page.

Meanwhile, let's peek in on our ex-pat blogger, Marta Acosta. The Bride of Casa Dracula, book three in her Casa Dracula series jumped from the crypt last Thursday. Go Marta!


Then there's Team Seattle:

The smoldering (as in I like to play with matches) and ever scheming Caitlin Kittredge and her Nocturne City series.

Kat Richardson, pistol expert and author of creepy urban fantasy and the Greywalker series.

And that ball of energy brighter than the sun, Richelle Mead and her stupendous blog of blogs. Richelle's got three series going: the Succubus Georgina Kincaid, Vampire Academy (NYT bestseller), and the newest: Storm Born. Succubus Dreams comes out this Tuesday. Buy lots of copies. We command you.
  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:37 PM  2 comments

  Hello all--

Back home finally after what seemed like three solid months of travel. In fact, put the suitcases away for the first time since July.





Suzanne-- here's the view from our table at the Green Flash. Now, I ask you, is that not gorgeous or what???


Chris Marie Green with me at Mysterious Galaxy.



Samantha Henderson, me, Deborah Pratt at Mystery & Imagination


Pics of the authors I signed with in San Diego and LA. My TBR pile has now increased by another half dozen books. My thanks to Patrick and the MG gang in San Diego and Christine at M & I in Glendale. You are all great!




I can't wait to get started on the next Anna adventure. Thanks to all of you who came out for the signings. I enjoyed meeting and talking with you. If I promised you magnets, please email me. I think I remembered everyone, but I met lots of wonderful people on this trip. Prizes and magnets should go out today.

See you next week.  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 9:22 AM  3 comments

  Hi friends-- i'm still in San Diego spending some time with my sis who does not have internet access-- I know--go figure. So I'm posting today to say I'll post a complete piece on Friday. But if you need an Anna fix, Jezebel of Jackie Kessler's great series, Hell on Earth, interviewed Anna while I've been gone. Click here to find out what she had to say!

And just to make all my transplanted San Diego friends jealous-- today I had lunch at the Green Flash in Mission Beach. Right on the water. Right at the ocean.

God, I miss this place!!!  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 3:30 PM  5 comments

  Pushing books Mario here:

Busy long weekend. Started the fun on Friday at the Mountain & Plains Trade Show in Colorado Springs. I had organized a booth with the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. We schmoozed the independent booksellers and scarfed the free chocolate. Afterwards, selected authors did signings. Here is Warren Hammond, creator of the grittiest novel in the future: KOP.


I can't forget one of my favorite writers, Jennie Shortridge, here signing her new book, Love and Biology. (Notice the title of the book the woman in the foreground is holding. Go Warren.)


Saturday I was a presenter at the Castle Rock Writers Conference. The Devil Duck found a new victim, I mean owner.


I finished the weekend by watching the Coen brothers' new movie, Burn After Reading. You get to see Brad Pitt get punched in the face and much worse. Best line in the flick: "Report back to me after this all makes sense."


If your ears are bored, treat them to my books, now available on Audible.com.  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 7:34 PM  1 comments

 







Here are the pics I promised below. For some reason on my lap top I can't arrange them.

I'm in San Diego for a couple of signing stops and to get my beach fix. I love this place. I took a picture of the view from the terrace where I stay with my good friends Ron and Louis and of course, forgot that I forgot my USB cord. Phil is joining me tomorrow though, so I'll add a pic then. I also want to give you a tour of Anna's haunts in Mission Beach. That will happen tomorrow, too. Or Friday at the latest, I promise.

In the meantime, congrats to Angela, first winner in the number contest. The number was 25, by the way, and she guessed 22. Good job.

Next up? Where does Anna live in San Diego? First with the right answer wins. Deadline is Sunday.

Two bits of Whedon news-- good and bad. Dollhouse production is halted because of creative differences. Read it and weep.

Kelly Armstrong talks about writing the next Angel arc for the comics. The good.

Like the Terminator says, I'll be back...

PS Felix and Anna are having a kind of dialogue on B & N paranormal/urban fantasy loop. Check it out this weekend-- more to come. Click on September Subfeature-- Legacy

PPS Remember the contest question!  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 8:19 AM  6 comments

  Whew! Mario here:

This weekend I attended the 25th Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's Annual Gold Conference Program, my eleventh in the last twelve years. I credit both RMFW and the conference in getting me published. This year our Jeanne was the RMFW Writer of the Year. Here she is wearing her WOTY Best of Show ribbon (and drinking hard to celebrate).

I met a bunch of great writers to include, our closing speaker: the New York Times best seller, the effervescent and brainy Shirley Jump.

The conference started Friday (through the night with plenty of drinking), went all day Saturday (with more drinking), and to Sunday noon. I planned to spend the afternoon working but I'm beat.

Raise your hands, how many of you have gotten the Nigerian money scam email? This week, on the radio show This American Life (an awesome show that you can listen to through your computer), they ran a story on scamming the scammers. Either listen here or check out the hilarious emails on the anti-scammer website.

This just in from Publishers Lunch. We all know this as old news but it's nice to get the word out:

"Thriller
Jeanne Stein's next two novels featuring vampire bounty hunter Anna Strong, again to Jessica Wade at Berkley, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group."

CONTEST WINNER!

Angelak220 won. The answer was 25 and she guessed 22. To get your prize, send your snail mail address to: jeanne at jeannestein.com
  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 4:38 PM  0 comments

  To coincide with the release of Legacy, I’ve done a slew of interviews. If you’d like to check them out, here are the links:

Fangs, Fur & Fey

Patricia’s Vampire Notes

Amberkatze’s Book Blog

Pop Syndicate

Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but oh well…

Legacy is also a featured title for the month over at B & N book clubs. You can post a comment, ask a quesion, or just lurk.

In book news, JK Rowling won a mixed decision in her battle to stop the Harry Potter Lexicon from being published. See full story here.

If you want to see the Firefly/Serenity Panels at DragonCon, check them out here.

Dr. Horrible here:

It was SO cool…

I’ve gotten questions about the LKH interview I did but so far, it hasn’t been posted anywhere that I know.




Now—on to something important. Because Mario and I are both so busy these days, we’ve neglected the contest stuff. I’m rectifying it now. For the next six weeks, I’m giving away a copy of Legacy and a set of bookcover magnets to the person who answers the question of the week. They are going to be completely arbitrary questions. To win, all you have to do is submit the answer in a comment. I think we may get Mario to play, too, but he’s not responding this morning. Must have had a rough night last night…

First question: I’ve sent Mario a number between one and one hundred. What is it? The first person to guess it wins. If no one does, the person who guesses closest wins. You can enter as often as you like. Deadline is Sunday at midnight.

Go.  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 8:03 AM  19 comments

  Quest for the Legacy Mario here:

Our Jeanne Stein is in full promotion mode for Legacy, book 4 of her Anna Strong series. Last Thursday, at the LoDo Tattered Cover, Jeanne was crowned as the WOTY, Writer Of The Year for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Jeanne, Joan Johnston, and I were candidates. I bear no animosity that Jeanne beat me as you can tell by this photo:

Sunday, Jeanne did a signing (and a steamy reading) at The Denver Book Mall, sponsored by Who Else Books.

As for me, check out my article of Tim Waggoner, author of the supernatural thriller, Cross County, in the most recent issue of The Big Thrill, the monthly newsletter of ITW, International Thriller Writers.


If you remember, last May I showed you Jennifer Mosquera's street painting of her work, Bar Flies. Here is the original watercolor modeled by Jennifer at Lapis Gallery during September's Tennyson Street First Friday Art Walk.

Down the street I visited this exhibit of body painting which I include only for its artistic merit.

Another view of the artistic merit.

Yay, art!  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:13 PM  4 comments

 


Special Edition Reminder!!!

True Blood starts Sunday night on HBO-- Here's a pic of Charlaine Harris on the red carpet. Does she not look beautiful!!

Also, click here for a YouTube on the show shared by Pat's Vampire Notes.  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 8:59 AM  4 comments

 

Okay, back from DragonCon where I really did try to come up with some good pics but ended up mostly with shots that looked like I took them in a cave. One thing that was really fun, though, was getting autographs from James Edward Olmos and James Callis for my daughter. She’s a HUGE BSG fan. The fan ardor is contagious. When I got up to James Callis, I blurted, “My daughter is a big Stargate Atlantis fan.” Without missing a beat, he said, “How does she feel about Battle Star Galactica, luv…” He is so friggin' cute!!!

He and EJO both signed a photo—on James’ side, he wrote: “It’s all his fault.” EJO wrote, “It is not my fault. It’s his. So say we all.” My daughter will freak when she sees it!!!










Anyway kudos to Derek Tatum who arranged the UF/ Dark Fantasy track. To Carol Malcolm who moderated almost every panel and had EVERY book written by the authors present—including all fifty or so of Rachel Caine’s who writes under about six different pseudonyms. She was awesome. To Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge who let Carol and I hang out with them. I had a great time. I was pretty nervous before the interview with LKH, but she’s so nice (and tiny). I felt like a giant next to her.

Okay, the rest of this will be pics from DC. Now I’m not a graphic novel fan (except for the Buffyverse, of course) so I don’t recognize most of the characters. But boy, everybody else did. Steampunk was very popular and I got one good shot.

Two things before I forget: the big book news I guess this week was Stephanie Meyer’s saying she might abandon the last Twilight book after it got pirated and posted on line. See the story here.

The second is that Legacy is being discussed at the B & N book club as a September subfeature so drop in and join the discussion. For some reason, I don’t think this link is working so you may have to cut and paste.

Enjoy the pics:









































Yes, this is a person...










You can't tell in the pic, but the rat on her shoulder is in costume!  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 5:59 AM  8 comments

  The real DNC 2008 Mario here:

As promised, I'd give you the local lowdown on DNC 2008. Many foretold of violence on an apocalyptic scale, what with protesters throwing barrages of Molotov cocktails and bags of feces while the police responded with tear gas and the indiscriminate clubbing of any and all innocent bystanders. The city advised workers to stockpile three days worth of food and medicine in case of a lockdown of downtown offices. (True!)

Well, there were a few arrests but mostly the media outnumbered protesters. The dreaded Re-create '68 showed their political relevance when their founder donned a wizard outfit and tried to leviate the Denver Mint. (Didn't work) The 16th Street Mall was crowded like Times Square but you had to look hard for any zaniness. Like those warning of the perils of bird porn.

Cops in riot gear were everywhere. Mostly I saw them drawing overtime pay by sitting on their Kevlar duffs and drinking Frappucinos.

If you wanted crazy over-the-top antics, then you had to go to the other DNC 2008, the Drunkard National Convention, held last weekend at the Kings Tavern. Naturally, in the interest of giving you the total DNC experience, I had to go.


There was the Drunkard Poetry Jam. To accommodate Drunkards of all abilities, note the woman signing for the deaf.

Followed by the Drunkard Dating Game where hammered hunks competed for the affections of a lovely lush.


And music for drunks by drunks, of course.

What party is complete without hats...especially official drinking fezzes!



And with all that booze sloshing around, it wasn't a surprise when women climbed on stage and starting taking their clothes off. The debauchery. The decadence. The fun!

Here is one of the burlesque performers (fully clothed), demonstrating that she is not just an awesome dancer but also one of the loudest women in America...Fanny Spankings.

Tune in Wednesday for Jeanne's report on her misadventures at DragonCon.  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:12 AM  0 comments